Lies, Truth, Love
by PhoenixTears55
Summary: Graduation for Smallville High has arrived-a little too soon for Clark's liking. Lana and Clark have another one of their 'talks' and this time Lana finds out Clark's secret. What's her reaction? Clana! Updated 11-30, info about sequel.
1. Lies, Truth, Love

Summary: Clark tells Lana the truth and her reaction is....well you'll just have to read to find out! Please read and review!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

"Do you love me?"

He froze. Out of all questions she could've asked, she just had to choose that one.

_God, how can this woman, standing before me, know how to jangle every possible nerve on my body; bang upon my mind and heart until it hurts, and yet still manage to keep my heart all to her self?_

Lana Lang, the girl next door—well until her aunt moved to the big city and gave her niece permission to move in with his other best friend, Chloe Sullivan.

"_Lana...you'll always be the girl next door,"_ he had told her once upon a star. Now, as Clark Kent stood almost two years later, in front of the girl—no the _woman_ of his dreams, suddenly, that star seemed like an infinity of light years away—which was probably true in actuality.

It seemed like mere seconds ago, Clark was walking up a huge stage in front of dozens of families and his fellow graduates, accepting a rolled up piece of paper tied with a velvet red ribbon. It wasn't just any rolled up piece of paper; it was his _high school diploma_. It was possibly his ticket out of Smallville. It was his ticket into the adult world and all of its wonders and despairs. Speaking of despairs—

"Clark?"

_Oh God, please don't looks at me like that—like you actually care about me;_ love me.

Clark refocused his eyes at the sound of her angelic voice.

The question she had asked earlier was still lingering in the air, chewing and eating him up inside. The carefree Clark wanted to shout "Yes Lana I love you like a drowning man loves air!" and the paranoid and frightened Clark wanted to bolt out of the loft as fast as he could; which would be faster than a speeding bullet.

Clark blinked a couple of times and forced himself to take a deep breath. What would he say? He couldn't tell her that he loved her; it would just complicate things and drag her into the turmoil that was his life. But yet, deep down a stronger and more meaningful power was taking place—could it be love?

"Lana...," he froze again. He couldn't say it. After all the times that she said it to him he couldn't say it back. He watched as her beautiful face changed into one of angst and pain. She also knew that he couldn't say it.

_C'mon Kent, you can do it! How hard can it be to just say three little words?_

"I...I love you."

There, he had said it. He had said the three most difficult words of his life.

Clark stood there in silence as he watched her heaven-sent face split into a small smile then contort into a frown of confusion and pain. Moments ago she had come into the loft with her graduation gown and diploma in her arms perching herself next to him as he watched the sun set. Now, almost an hour of silence later, she had asked the question he knew she was burning to ask. For, she had just broken things off with her boyfriend, Jason before the ceremony. He knew because she had told him herself after the ceremony. She had told him that Jason was a nice guy...just not the guy for her. Clark immediately knew who the right guy for her was, even if he didn't want it to be. Him.

"Clark...?"

He loved the way she said his name. It was almost as if he was _important_. All his life he always thought of himself as an outsider, an _alien_. Not just because he had special abilities, but...because he _was_.

"Yes?"

"How can you say you love me if you don't trust me?"

_Here we go again with the trust issues!_

"Lana...."

"Clark...."

Clark sighed. They were back at square one again. They were _always_ at square one. Sure, they had moved on to square two in their sophomore year for about two days but that was it. They never made it to square three or four, or five for that matter. It was always square one. Clark remembered something that Lex had told him about his relationship between his father and him once during his freshman year when they were still friends.

"_We have a complicated relationship, Clark. My father wants me to believe it's built on trust, but it's not. It's built on lies and deceit. Any relationship with that foundation is destined to fail. Lucky we don't have that problem."_

"_Lucky us,"_ he had replied. In the years to come after that Clark had realized that Lex was right. Pete had moved away, his friendship with Lex was down the drain, and things still weren't exactly the same with Chloe as they had been before she had started feeding information about him to Lionel Luthor. And now, Clark realized that everyone he cared about had either left him, or was going to leave him. Chloe was moving to New York City to pursue her dreams of becoming a journalist. She had said that Metropolis brought back too many bad memories but Clark knew she was lying. She was leaving because there was nothing left for her in Smallville. Her friendship with Clark had nearly run itself into the ground and her dad was murdered by the hands of Lionel Luthor.

And Lana. Sure, she had run off to Paris for a summer, but she had still come back. Came back with a boyfriend of course, but nevertheless, she returned. And now she was standing in front of the man she claimed to love but how could she love him if she only knew so much about him?

"_It's your secret son; it's your decision,"_ his father had told him while lying on his deathbed in the hospital. Jonathon Kent had had a series of heart attacks starting senior year. He had passed away a week before graduation. Clark and his mother were devastated of course. Clark was saddened because he wouldn't be there on his special day into the adult world and his mom well...for obvious reasons of course.

_My secret...my decision...._

Clark didn't want Lana to leave like all his other friends did. He didn't want her to move to New York City or go back to Paris. He didn't want their friendship to run into the ground. For once, he wanted her to stay and be with him forever, no matter how selfish it seemed.

"_Love can make you a little selfish and crazy sometimes,"_ his mother had once said to him when he came to her for advice about relationships. And what was it that Lois Lane had told him right before the ceremony?

"_Look, Smallville, if you love her that much go after her! She's not going to wait for you forever!"_

_She's not going to wait for me forever....Damnit! Why can't I just tell her? I've waited for what? Four years to tell her my secret! Four years of pain, angst, and love...all for it waiting to be flushed down the toilet. Four years of lying, hiding, and deceiving the one person on this planet who I care about and love the most!_

"Clark!"

Clark snapped out of his thoughts as he gazed down at an angry and confused Lana.

"Clark, I've waited for _four _years for you to tell me your secret on your own and now that we're done with high school and about to move on with our lives, I just want one thing from you!" Lana spat out angrily.

"What?" whispered Clark even though he knew what she wanted from him. She wanted his heart and all the demons that came with it.

"I want to know if there's ever going to be anything between us."

Clark gulped visibly. How was he going to answer that one?

"Lana...."

"Oh for heaven's sake Clark just spit it out!" she screamed at him. "Just tell me already that you can't tell me your secret so that I can tell you that I'm leaving for Paris for _good!"_

Clark was obviously taken aback by this news. He opened his mouth once and then snapped it shut. Then opened it again and proceeded to shut it again.

"W-what?"

"Paris, Clark. I'm leaving for Paris." She paused for a second and then added, "For _good, _this time."

_Great Kent, now you've done it. She hates you so much that she's leaving for Paris permanently._

"Lana...if you're leaving because of me—"

"No Clark! I'm leaving because of everything! There's nothing left for me in Smallville anymore! I came here to see if there was really nothing left," Lana paused and searched Clarks eyes seemingly trying to find something in there—a shred of hope maybe?

"I guess I'm right, Clark....there really is nothing left for me in Smallville." She turned to leave.

_NO! Don't let her get away idiot! Not again!_

"Lana, wait!" Clark turned to grab her hand. To his dismay and surprise he found her crying.

"Wait for _what,_ Clark!?"

If Clark was taken aback before that was nothing compared to now.

"There's nothing to wait for Clark! It's all _gone!_ My parents are gone, Chloe's leaving, my aunt left me a long time ago, and for once in my life Clark, it's _my _turn to leave!"

Clark hadn't expected to feel his blood boil with anger. He had expected guilt and angst, after all that's what he'd always felt after every one of their 'talks' as Chloe put it.

"You think this is easy for me Lana? To see everyone I love leave because of me? Because of me it's my fault that Pete left, because of me you and Chloe are both leaving, and because of me it's my fault that my dad's buried eight feet underground!"

Now it was Lana's turn to feel surprised. Clark could tell that wasn't the reaction she had expected. She had expected a hurt and guilty Clark to beg her to stay and apologize to her. _Well, she expected wrong._

Clark saw Lana's mask that she often wore to these confrontations slipping. But before it hit the floor, she valiantly pulled it back on.

"What do you mean it's your fault that your dad's dead Clark?" Lana demanded to know. "He died from a heart attack, Clark."

"Well he wouldn't have had those heart attacks if he hadn't been so stressed out from the farm and my secret!"

Clark could see Lana pulling out the pity card on him. Well he'd had enough people pull that card out on him for the past week and a half.

"Clark—"

"Don't start Lana, please." Clark closed his eyes. When he finally opened them again, he noticed the sky had turned dark outside and was splattered with bright stars. Clark could feel tears streaming down his cheeks. He tried to wipe them away but he noticed that Lana's hand was still in his right hand. He tried to pull away but she just held on tighter as though if she let go she would be sucked into a whirlpool of emotions she couldn't handle.

"Lana, I know you want to know my secret, but it's just too much....I mean, look at what happened to my dad."

Lana suddenly pulled her hand away from Clarks.

"It's too dangerous Lana," Clark stated quietly.

Clark could sense that Lana was getting agitated—but why?

"Clark Kent! If you love me then you'll respect me enough to let me make my own decisions!" Lana's shrill voice cut through the tension of the barn. She turned and dropped her gown and diploma on the couch. Then she turned back and crossed her arms across her chest as if saying "I'm not leaving until you tell me your damn secret!"

Just when Clark thought he couldn't possibly get anymore frustrated or angry he did.

"You wanna know my damn secret Lana?!" he cried out in frustration.

Lana looked as if she wanted to get a word or two in but Clark cut her off.

"I'm an alien okay!? I came to Smallville in a spaceship during the meteor shower—and yes the same meteor shower that killed dozens of people including your parents!"

Clark's heart literally stopped just then. He had told her part of his secret. He had never really meant to—it was just his anger got the best of him.

_Oh well, I've already told her that part, might as well continue before it sinks in and she never speaks to me again._

Clark took a deep breath and glanced over at Lana with her mouth hanging open.

"I have special abilities too....I can run really fast, see through walls, start fires with my eyes, breathe ice out, hear really well, and I'm practically bullet proof. And...I can sort of fly." Clark told her quietly.

It seemed like hours of standing and waiting before Lana actually said something.

"I hate you."

Clark flinched. Even though she had whispered it to him it felt as if she had screamed it in his ears and slapped him in the face. Slowly, Clark turned away from her and walked over to the open window of the loft. He was barely aware that he was crying.

A few moments later, Clark heard footsteps descending the stairs of his loft. He knew that she had just walked out of his life again—and he had let her.

He didn't know how long he stood there waiting; hoping she would come back to him, but deep down, he knew she wouldn't be coming back ever. After what seemed like hours of standing there looking out into the night sky, he turned around and froze.

There she was, in his loft again. Sure, her eyes were red and puffy and it looked like she had been crying, but she was back.

"Lana?" he breathed as though if he spoke too loud, she would just disappear into a cloud of smoke.

"C-Clark," she sniffed.

The two of them stood there gazing at each other. It was as if they were afraid if they looked away, the other would vanish.

"I-I forgot my stuff," Lana said quietly.

"Oh."

_She didn't come here to see you dumbass, she came here to get her gown and diploma so that she could pack for Paris._

Clark moved slowly out of the way so that Lana could reach over to the couch and grab her stuff.

_She isn't moving....Why isn't she moving?_

"Lana...?"

"Clark, I love you."

Stunned silence filled the room. Clark looked at her in disbelief.

_Did she just say that she loved me?_

"I love you too."

_Idiot why did you say that? She didn't even say she loved you—did she?_

Clark watched as the sad facial expressions on her face turned into happy ones.

"Clark...I may have not loved as long but I love you as much as you love me—alien or not."

Clark felt as if he died and went to heaven only to be brought back down by an angel—the angel standing in front of him.

"You do?"

Clark watched her smile and watched as her nose wrinkled up as she gave a little laugh.

"Yes Clark, I do."

Clark smiled and wiped the tears from his face. Then he bent down and kissed her full on the lips.

Lana wrapped her arms around his neck as he put up a hand to cup her face. The kiss was growing more passionate with every second. Clark could feel Lana smile slightly and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue instead her mouth.

"Mmm..." he heard her groan.

Clark bit her bottom lip slightly and then pulled away. Lana looked a little disappointed but she quickly recovered by giving him a quick kiss.

"Lana, I can't give you the world or promise that we'll be together forever, but I know one thing's for sure."

"What's that?"

"I'll always love you no matter where life takes us." Clark smiled and then bent down to give her another kiss before she could reply.


	2. Author's Note

Hello folks!

Just wanted to let you know that this fic is a standalone and I'm not and wasn't planning on continuing it. I got a few reviews asking me to update soon…so yeah. That doesn't mean I won't write a sequel maybe in the future. But since I'm starting high school soon I would really hate to start something that I might not finish. Okay…then….

I just want to thank everyone who reviewed…your reviews meant a lot to me since this was my first Smallville fic that was actually posted on FF. Thank you!

PhoenixTearz55

UPDATED: I have a sequel up! It's been up for a while now, but I just figured maybe some of you didn't know. Click on my profile to read it since I dont know how to get links here.


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